Context dependency and saturating effects of loss of rare soil microbes on plant productivity.

ABSTRACT: Land use intensification is associated with loss of biodiversity and altered ecosystem functioning. Until now most studies on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning focused on random loss of species, while loss of rare species that usually are the first to disappear received less attention. Here we test if the effect of rare microbial species loss on plant productivity depends on the origin of the microbial soil community. Soils were sampled from three land use types at two farms. Microbial communities with increasing loss of rare species were created by inoculating sterilized soils with serially diluted soil suspensions. After 8 months of incubation, the effects of the different soil communities on abiotic soil properties, soil processes, microbial community compo

SUBMITTER: Hol WH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4485053 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature